Interchangeable partition-section.



No. 856,198. PATENTED JUNE 11, 1907. A. ADAMS. INTERCHANGEABLE PARTITION SECTION.

APPLIOATION FILED DEC. 5, 1966.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1- PATENTED JUNE 11, 1907.

A. ADAMS.

INTERGHANGEABLE PARTITION SECTION.

APPLICATION FILED DEC 5. 1906 4 SHEETS-SHEET U No. 856,198. PATENTED JUNE 11, 1907.

A. ADAMS. INTERGHANGEABLB PARTITION SECTION.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 6. 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

PATENTED JUNE 11, 1907.

A. ADAMS. TNTBR G HANGEABLE PARTITION SECTION.

APPLIUATION FILED DBO. 5, 1906.

4 SHEETSSHEET 4.

' Fig.1.

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'A-LFRED ADAMS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

INTE RCHANGE ABLE PARTITION-SECTION- I Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 11, 1907.

A lication fil d December 5, 1906. Serial No, 346.363.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED ADAMS, a citizen of the United States, residing at 7 4 Henry street, Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Interchangeable Partition-Sections, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The present invention relates to partitions for ofices and similar apartments in which the partitions are commonly not extended to the ceiling, but in order to finish off their upper edge are provided with a sloping cornice.

The object of the invention is to construct such partitions and their cornices in sections, with complemental engaging devices upon their edges adapted to wholly conceal the joints of the sections when erected in a partition.

The invention provides a new article of manufacture, as the partition sections with their cornices and means for closing the joints can be manufactured of various widths and carried in stock, and may thus be fitted together and erected in an ofiice or apartment without any carpenter work whatever upon the sections.

To sustain such a sectional partition in place, guide-strips are provided upon the floor and on the walls at the opposite ends of the partition, and means is provided upon the top of the-cornice, where it will not be seen, for holding the top of the sections in alinement. The edges of the sections may also, if desired, be furnished with latches to engage automatically when the sections are fitted together, and concealed means provided for disengaging the latch when required.

- and extended over the baseboard of the tition, with cornice blocks fitted upon the outside of the cornice and projected over the end of the same. The space between such projecting pilasters and cornice blocks forms a complemental engaging device, adapted to parfit the edge of any similar section. Anglesectlons and tee-sections may be' used to umte the other sections at a corner or at a junction, provided such angle-sections'arc projections and cornice blocks to engage in 3 terchan eably the other sections.

The 1% grooved plate or strip to engage the bottom edges. of the sections including the doorframe; and to fill any given space, as twenty feet, with such a sectional partition and a doorway, a suitable door-frame is selected with a door hinged therein and the remainder of the space filled with sections of suitable width to fit between the doorway and the opposed walls.

The edges of the sections having no pilasters are adapted to fit into the rooved wallstrip, but to engage the edges aving ilasters therewith, a piece of the same the ness as the partition, and one, two or more inches in width, is fitted to the groove between the pilasters and extended into the groove of the wall-strip, such piece serving to completely fill the space not occupied by the partition sections. Such piece may be made of tapering or irregular width so as to compensate for any irregularities in the position of the walls.

Sections to form a corner or'tee-joint may be made of any desired angle and provided with a suitable portion of the cornice and with pilasters and cornice blocks upon one or both edges, and a very great advantage is obtained by making such corner sections in a cor and walls are furnished with a factory; as the baseboard, chair rails, and

cornices upon a corner piece require to be made with a miter joint, which if made by hand and in the apartment where the partition is erected requires a great deal of time and skilled labor; but if made in the factory such miter joints can all be made by machiner and the arts glued and secured to ether 7 Y E r:

at very slig t expense,

In office buildings, thousands of feet of partition have been erected annually, which could not be taken down without more or less injury to the partition, and which'could not be having-the pilasters at one edge; Fig. 4 is an The invention will be understood by refer ence to the annexeddrawing, in which Figure 1 represents a partition composed of a door-frame and two other sections; Fig.'

2 is a diagram showing in plan a door-frame and five other sections fitted between the walls, only the end sections being engaged with the wall-strips, and the remaining sections separated to show the interchangeable and complemental engaging devices in contigo-ity. Fig. 13 is an elevation of a section elevatlon of debr-fi'ame and door with pilasters at both'edges, and the cornice blocks above the pilasters represented only by dotted lines. Fig. 5 is a vertical section at the middle of Fig. .4 with a floor and ceiling represented, as 'well as a floor-plate, wallstrip and upper section, engaged with the door section. Fig. 6 is a vertical section of the upper part of the door-frame, the section plane cutting through the pilasters and cornice blocks, and the view drawn upon a larger scale than Fig. 4; 7 is a perspective view of one of the cornice blocks; Fig. -8 shows the edges of two of the partition sections with a latch for locking the same, in s tion on line 88 in Fig.9 at the edge of-the latch. Fig. 9 is a plan of the same; Fig. 10 is a sectional plan showing the cornices of two of the sections (taken above the cornice) with the cornice blocks and dowels engaged. Fig. 11

is a perspective view of the floor-plate; Fig. 12 is a plan showing the application of corner and tee-sections; Fig. 13 is a plan of a corner section provided with pilasters; Fig. 14. is v aplan of acorner seetionwithout pilasters and Fig. 1 5 is a plan of a tee-section with pilasters. Dotted lines, indicating the mitering of the cornice, areshown in Figs. 12 to 15. g

i A, B, designate two walls; A", B, wallstrips thereon between which partition sec-- tions C, D and E are shown fitted in Fig. 1; the section D consisting of the door and doorframe with pilasters' a projected from opposite ed es to form vertical grooves upon both sides 0 the frame, and the sections 0 and E having each one thin edge fitted to such grooves and the opposite edge provided with ilasters a adjacent to the wall-strips A and g, filling pieces bein fitted to the rooves in such pilasters and t e adjacent wal -strips,'

the same as shown in Fig. 2.

A floor-plate C is shown in Fig. 5 and Fig.

.1 1, with groove b in the upper side to receive the lower edges of the partitions, such plate and the wall-strips serving amply to hold the partition in position, when the engaging devices are interlocked.

The stiles of the door-frame are connected at the bottom by a strip b which forms a projection the whole width of the frame adapted to fill the groove 11 in the floor-plate C, thus holding the frame inline with the other seetions of the partition, and making the floor-I plate serve as a'sill to the door which-hangs above the same. i v

To secure the partitions more rigidlyto one another and hold them more rigidly in place, one or more latches may be placed on one edge of each section between the pil'asters, and a latch-guard provided upon the opposite edge of each section, adapted to interchangeably engage such latch or latches, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

The latch c is shown constructed with a shank d having a spring e thereunder which presses it normally downward, so that it automatically engages the guard f when the edge of one section is pressed toward another.

To facilitate the detachment of the latch when it is desired to take down the partition, a toe d is projected from the shank in line with a push-pin g extended into the edge of one of the pilasters a, and pressure upon the pin 9 by a nail, lead pencil, or other means serves to lift the latch and permit the separation of the sections.

As the push-pin g is not upon the face of.

tions, cornice blocks i are secured upon the cornice in line with the pilasters a and thus project over the ends of the cornice. Such cornice blocks are made internally of the same contour as the cornice itself and glued orotherwisesecured thereon, and thus form a socket which closely fits the corniceupon an adjacent section and .helps tov greatly stiffen the joints of thesections.

Fig. 5 shows the appearance of the cor. nice intermediate to its ends, and Fig. 6

shows the end of one of the sections with the ilasters a, and cornice blocks i crossatched, clearly showingthe space of the same size as the partition, between the pilasters and cornice blocks upon the opposite sides of the partition.

Where the cornice is formed, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 with a thickened head a independent of the molded. projection, the pilaster is formed with a corresponding pilaster block a, and the cornice blocks i being formed of the same crosssection or profile as is imitated in the partitions between thev glass or wooden panels to break up and ornament the surface. All these overlapping parts fit snugly upon the edges of the adjacent section and serve to support and stiffen the sections which are not engaged with the wall-strips.

To further stifl'en the joint between the sections, dowel-pins y' are, in Figs. 6 and 10, shown upon the head-piece of the partition at one end of the head, and corresponding holes is are shown in the opposite end of the head, which fit the dowel-pins interchangeably upon any of the sections, Such pins are shown in Fig. 6 and in Fig. 10, where they are represented within the space bounded by the cornice blocks 43, which protect them from accidental injury when the separate sections are handled in transportation.

A further stiffening device is shown in Figs. 6 and 10, where the head-piece of the partition is formed with a central groove n and a continuous bar m fitted in the same across the joints of the partitions, thusassisting to hold them in line, and such stiffening effect is produced whether the bar be. secured in the groove n, or left loose to facilitate the taking down of the partition whenever required. The majority of partitions are not extended to the ceiling, but where desired, the sectional partition is extended to the ceiling by placing upper sections G upon the top of the partition, guiding the same by a grooved plate G attached to the top of the partition, and a grooved ceiling strip H attached to the ceiling. As the ceilings are not always exactly parallel with the floor-line, the groove in the ceiling-strip may be made of one or more inches in depth, so as to clasp the upper edges of the sections G, whether the,

nating the pilasters exposed upon the inner sides of the corner, the parts a showing pilasters upon the outerside of the corner, and 6 5 both.pilastersprojecting over the adjacent edges of the section, as in the door-frame D.

The baseboard 0 is shown upon the outer side of the corner with miter-joint 0 as is necessary upon a corner, and the cormc'e is indicated by dotted lines h, with the miterjoint of the same represented by dotted lines 71 Such section may be completely 'fi'nished in the factory and adapted to fit any of the other sections interchangeably. The same is true of the tee-section shown in Fig. 15,

having a straight portion J forming two wings at its opposite ends provided respectively upon their inner and outer sides with pilasters a, a and-a right angle wing J having pilasters a at opposite sides, thus forming three grooved edges adapted to fit the plain edges of any of the other sections.

The corner section or tee-section may be built at other than a right angle and made without pilasters, as shown in the section K in Fig. 14, having two wings set atan angle of 135 degrees to one another, to form anobtuse corner, as indicated in'Fig. '12. this figure, three partitions designated L, M

tition Q is connected with the partition L by a. corner section with the partition M by a tee-section, and with the partition N by two of the angle sections K, between which a door-frame D is shown fitted.

It is preferable in such partitions that the junction of the partition with a wall or with' another partition should be ornamented with pilasters, and the sections I and J are thus formed with the pilasters to furnish ornamental junctions of the partitions; and in Figs. 2 and 12 the junction of the partitions with the walls is also characterized by pilasters adjacent to the wall-strips A.

Door-frames D are shown in the partitions M and Q, partition sections without pilasters being inserted between the doorframe in the partition M and the adjacent section, and also next to the door-frame in the partition Q.

My claims to an interchangeable section rovided with pilasters upon one edge are intended to cover a corner section, whether. the pilaster projections be formed upon one or more edges of the same.

To facilitate the insertion of the last section in a partition when erecting the same, the floor-plate, wall-strip, or 'pilaster upon one section may be detachable, as shown in the floor-plate in Fig. 11, Where the wood at one side of the groove is represented secured by screws, and one of the outer pilasters a in be readily detached from one another and set up in any other place for similar use. v Where the floor-plate is used upon an uneven floor, it is leveled b putting blocks under it at suitable interva s, and securing a molding upon the floor at the edges of the floor-plate to conceal thegap beneath the plate.

By my construction, partitions caving cornices exactly like those now in use can be made insections and erected in very little time and with very little noise, dirt, or interference withthe tenants of an apartment, and can be taken down and removed with equal facility, as the only parts attached to the] 1building are the strips upon the floor and wa s. K

Having thus set forth the nature of the inventionwhat is claimed herein is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, interchangeable partition sections provided each with an attached section of cornice h and each partition section having at one edge pilaster projections a to overlap the edge of an ad j acent section, and the cornice provided with corresponding overlapping cornice blocks '1, having internal contour corresponding to the profile of the cornice so as to snugly engage the same, 'the pilasters and cornice blocks '5 thus serving to whollyconceal the joint between the sections when erected.

2. As a new article of manufacture, interchangeable partition sections provided each with an attached sectionof cornice h and each section having at one edge pilaster projections a to overlapthe edge of an adjacent section and conceal the. joint therewith, and means projectingi from the edge of the section between t e pilaster projections for looking to the edge of the adjacent section.

3. As a new article of manufacture, interchangeable partition sections provided each with an attached section of cornice h and each partition section having at one edge pilaster projectlons a tooverlap the edge of an adjacent section and conceal the joint therewith, a latch projecting from the edge of the section between the pilaster projec tions for engaging the ed e of the adjacent section, and means concea ed by the pilaster projection for disengaging such latch, to per-a mit the separation of the sections when. re-

quired.

4. As a new article of manufacture, interchangeable partition sections provided with 'a cornice, each section having one edge provided with pilaster projections to overlap the seams- I edge of an adjacent section, and the cornice provided at opposite ends respectivel with dowels and with coinplemental' dowe holes to engage the adjacent sections together.

'5. n a partition unsupported at the, top, the combination, with interchangeable partition sections, of the strip A" secured vertically upon the wall with groove to receive the edge of a section, and the sections provided each'with an attached section of cornice h and formed u on one edge to fit the groove in such wal strip interchangeably, and uponv the opposite edge with cornice blocks 6, and with pilaster projections 11 forming a groove corresponding to that in the wall-strip, whereby the sections are adapted interchangeably to engage one another or the groove in the wall-strip.

6. In a partition extending from floor to ceiling, the combination, with the floorstripC having groove b,.of interchangeable partition sections fitted each at the bottom to such groove and provided each with an attached section of cornice hand upon one edge with cornice blocks-i and with pilaster projections a to en age the edges of opposed sections, a groove cap G secured over the tops of all of the cornices, top sections G set in the said groove and provided each at one edge with overlapping pilaster projections to engage the adjacent top section, and the ceiling-strip H having groove fitted to the upper edge of the top sections, with depth suflicient to compensate for variations in the height of the apartment and retain engagement with the sections G.

7. In a partition unsupported at the top,

the combination, withinterchangeable partition sections provided each upon one edge with pilaster projectionsformi a groove, and the opposite edges of the sect on adapted to fit such grooves, of a floor plate having a groove adapted to fit the bottoms of the sections, and a door-frame having door hung therein and provided with pilaster projections to engage the'opposite' ed es of the adjacent sections, and having at t e bottom a tie-bar adapted 'to fill the groove of the floor-plate, whereby the floor-plate serves as a door sill for the door.

8. In a partition unsupported at the top, the combination, with intercha eable partition sections provided each with a section of cornice h and with pilaster projections a and cornice blocks i to engage the edge of an opposed section, and the tops of the cornices having the coincident grooves n, of the etrip m extended through suchgrooves, to hold the sections in line with one another.

9. In a partition, the combination, with interchangeable partition sections provided each with a section of cornice It and with pilaster projectionsa and cornice blocks i to engage the edge .ofan opposed section, of a corner section having wings projected at an my hand in the presence of two subscribing angle to one anofther and proviided gith at- Witnesses. tached sections 0 cornice jointe at t e same angle as the wings, and pilasters and cornice ALFRED ADAMS 5 blocks projected from the edges of the Wings Witnesses:

to engage the edges of opposed sections. L. LEE,

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set i THOMAS S. CRANE. 

